Understanding Your School’s
Unified Improvement Plan
(UIP)
Division of Performance Improvement
Our Speakers Tonight
Chris Domino
DAC Member Emerita
CCSD District Accountability Committee (DAC) Member for over 20 years and a former DAC chair, Chair of the
Process Subcommittee, Lead Trainer for Colorado School Accountability Network (CSAN), and co-author of
CDE’s parent-oriented Accountability Handbook with Senator Evie Hudak and Jhon Penn, CDE Field Services
Executive Director.
Dr. Elliott Asp
Assistant Superintendent for Performance Improvement
This office provides support, guidance, and leadership to the departments that make up the Performance
Improvement Team: Assessment and Evaluation, Curriculum and Instruction, Professional Learning, Excellence
and Equity, English Language Acquisition, Gifted and Talented Education, and the Funded Projects and Grants
Office.
Dr. Connie Zumpf
Director of Assessment and Evaluation
The Office of Assessment and Evaluation is a support organization; our work serves a variety of stakeholders
and decision makers in Cherry Creek Schools. We provide quality data, processes, and tools necessary to inform
decisions about students, schools, and programs. We promote an assessment and data use culture that is
collegial and professional, and in which data is viewed as a springboard for continuous improvement.
Purpose of This Session:
• Understand the cycle of the Unified Improvement Planning (UIP)
process in Cherry Creek Schools.
• Understand the relationship between the district vision,
mission, goals, and improvement strategies and the plans that a
school will create.
• Be knowledgeable about the different sections of the school UIP
template, and know key terms that characterize each section.
• Practice critical reading of portions of the UIP with the aid of the
district UIP Quality Criteria Checklist.
• Know where to access a variety of resources to help support
your School’s Accountability Committee in the UIP process.
Process for Tonight
• As a large group we will go through some sections of
a sample UIP from last year in order to illustrate
sections of the template.
• We will have time for structured “table talk”
throughout the process.
UNIFIED DISTRICT AND
SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT
PLANNING
(UIP)
INTRODUCTION & CONTEXT
Why Plan?
Why not just say what we will do then do it?
Plan A
Plan B
 Priority Challenge = Relieve Knee Pain
 Root Cause = overweight, inactivity
 Goal Target = lose 25 pounds by June 1
Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-Based
 Major Improvement Strategy = Program
of healthy diet and exercise
 Research-based Action Steps &
Implementation Benchmarks
• Restrict calories to 1800 per day
• Track food intake with Lose It app
• Increase aerobic exercise
• Attendance at exercise class
• Daily weight tracking
• Use of Fitbit & smart scale
 Monitor/Assess/Reflect/Course Correct =
Join Weight Watchers if not on track by
3/15/13
Plan B
Why Engage in the UIP Process?
“If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail.”
• Create understanding of performance and growth for school
leadership, staff, and community.
• Monitor progress on prior year’s school goals in order to
evaluate impact of program, curriculum, instruction.
• Evaluate performance and growth trends in order to discern
next steps.
• Provide context for understanding the results for classrooms and
students and plan actions going forward.
• Required for accountability committees by law since 1971
How do we plan in Cherry Creek?
For years, our guiding mission and goals have
been Excellence, Equity, and Post-Secondary
Success:
Our Guiding Mission and Goals
Reflected in
State Accountability Indicators
Our Guiding Mission & Goals in
Public Accountability Documents
District Performance Plan (DPP)
• Based on our values
• DAC-sponsored Community
Forums in 2009-10
• Easy to read, “Reader’s
Digest” version of our
district’s priority challenges,
goals, improvement
strategies, and action steps
Reflect & Discuss
(see pp 4-5 of the DPP)
District Vision and Your School’s Plan
• In what ways do your school’s goals reflect the district goals?
• Do you see the same kind of major improvement strategies?
Discuss with your table —
• If you don’t know your school’s goals, what’s your next step?
• How can work with your School Accountability Committee
(SAC) and with your principal to inform your community about
your school’s goals?
How does CCSD do UIP work?
• Unified Improvement Planning is a process, not an event in
Cherry Creek
• The Data Analysis Process has been in use in CCSD for years.
• The UIP template comes from CDE and is uniform statewide.
– We have added a few adaptations in order to reflect our district
mission and process
– A Quality Criteria Checklist can help to ensure that UIP sections
are completed correctly
• Quality Criteria Checklist helps to guide UIP template
completion
Unified Improvement Planning is a
process, not an event in CCSD
The UIP
Planning
Calendar
Data Analysis Process
Gather & Organize Data
Monitor &
Evaluate
Step 4:
Take Action and Follow Up
Target Setting &
Action Plans
Step 1:
Activate and Engage
To inspire
every student
• to think
• to learn
• to achieve
• to care
Step 3:
Explain and Target
Priority Performance Challenge and
Root Cause Identification
Significant
Trends, Data
Summary
Step 2:
Explore and Observe
Narrative of
Data Analysis
UIP Template
• The UIP template comes from CDE and is
uniform statewide.
– We have added a few adaptations in order to
reflect our district mission and process
Quality Criteria Checklist
as a Guiding Resource
UNIFIED DISTRICT AND
SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT
PLANNING
(UIP)
SAMPLE UIP
CDE’s UIP Sections
(We will go over portions of red sections tonight)
Section I Section II Section III
Section IV
State
Grant Info
+
Federal
Performance
Data
Progress on Prior Year’s
Targets Worksheet
School Target Setting Form
 Targets, measures, metrics
 Interim Measures
 Major Improvement Strategies
Data Narrative
 School Performance
Framework Index (SPF)
 Excellence: CSAP
Performance & Growth
 Equity: CSAP Performance
and/or Growth by
Race/Ethnicity and other
student subgroups
 College Preparedness:
Explore/Plan/Colorado ACT,
Graduation Rate
Action Planning Forms
 Major Improvement Strategies
 Associated root causes
 Action Steps
 Timelines
 Key People
 Resources
 Implementation Benchmarks
 Status of Action Steps
Contact
Improvement
Plan Info
CDE’s UIP Sections
(We will go over red sections tonight)
Section I Section II Section III
Section IV
State
Grant Info
+
Federal
Performance
Data
Progress on Prior Year’s
Targets Worksheet
School Target Setting Form
 Targets, measures, metrics
 Interim Measures
 Major Improvement Strategies
Data Narrative
 Introduction
 External Accountability
Indexes (SPF, AYP if Title 1)
 Excellence: CSAP
Performance & Growth
 Equity: CSAP Performance
and/or Growth by
Race/Ethnicity and other
student subgroups
 College Preparedness:
Explore/Plan/Colorado ACT,
Graduation Rate
Action Planning Forms
 Major Improvement Strategies
 Associated root causes
 Action Steps
 Timelines
 Key People
 Resources
 Implementation Benchmarks
 Status of Action Steps
Contact
Improvement
Plan Info
Progress Monitoring of Prior Year’s
Performance Targets Worksheet
• School annual performance targets for last year
– What data sources will be/were used to
evaluate goal targets?
• Actual data addressing the target
• Observations for each target
– Were goal targets met?
– If yes:
• Is this a celebration?
• Is this a continued priority for current year?
– If no:
• Should this be a priority for the current year?
Progress Monitoring of Prior Year’s
Performance Targets Worksheet (sample p 1)
•
•
___)
Create context by examining performance on prior year’s goal targets.
(1) State the target. (2) State the results. (3) Provide an observation.
Reflect & Discuss
• Use the Quality Criteria Checklist
• Read and comment on the
Progress Monitoring of Prior Year’s
Performance Targets Worksheet
• Discuss with your table —
– Does the narrative in the worksheet meet the
quality criteria?
– What suggestions might you have, reading this as
a community member?
CDE’s UIP Sections
(We will go over portions of red sections tonight)
Section I Section II Section III
Section IV
State
Grant Info
+
Federal
Performance
Data
School Target Setting Form
 Targets, measures, metrics
 Interim Measures
 Major Improvement Strategies
Contact
Improvement
Plan Info
Progress on Prior Year’s
Targets Worksheet
Data Narrative
 Introduction
 External Accountability
Indexes (SPF, AYP if Title 1)
 Excellence: CSAP Performance



Action Planning Forms
 Major Improvement Strategies
 Associated root causes
 Action Steps
 Timelines
& Growth
 Key People
Equity: CSAP Performance
 Resources
and/or Growth by Race/Ethnicity  Implementation Benchmarks
and other student subgroups
 Status of Action Steps
College Preparedness:
Explore/Plan/Colorado ACT,
Graduation Rate
Summary: PPC’s & Root
Causes
Data Narrative for the School:
• This is the story about your school as suggested by your
data analysis.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Introduction to the School and the Data Inquiry Process
Descriptions of data from external accountability index (SPF)
Descriptions of TCAP, and (if applicable) Explore/Plan/ACT
performance and growth, organized around our District Excellence,
Equity, and Post-Secondary Readiness themes
Summary of Priority Performance Challenges and Root Causes
• Readers should be able to read this narrative in about 1015 minutes and understand:
1.
2.
3.
The most important trends for the school
The priority needs indicated by the data, and
A reflection about why results look as they do.
Data Narrative for the School:
Introduction (sample p. 8)
• Principal’s Message/Background
about the School
• Information about the Data Inquiry Process
– The following team participated in the data inquiry
process in order to identify priority needs, goal focus
areas, and root causes:
– We examined the following results reports in our analysis:
Reflect & Discuss
• Use the Quality Criteria Checklist
• Read and comment on the
Introduction portion of the Data
Narrative
• Discuss with your table —
– Does the narrative in the sample give the reader
a good overview description of the school , the
UIP process, and the people involved?
CDE’s UIP Sections
(We will go over portions of red sections tonight)
Section I Section II Section III
Section IV
State
Grant Info
+
Federal
Performance
Data
School Target Setting Form
 Targets, measures, metrics
 Interim Measures
 Major Improvement Strategies
Contact
Improvement
Plan Info
Progress on Prior Year’s
Targets Worksheet
Data Narrative
 Introduction
 External Accountability
Indexes (SPF, AYP if Title 1)
 Excellence: CSAP Performance



Action Planning Forms
 Major Improvement Strategies
 Associated root causes
 Action Steps
 Timelines
& Growth
 Key People
Equity: CSAP Performance
 Resources
and/or Growth by Race/Ethnicity  Implementation Benchmarks
and other student subgroups
 Status of Action Steps
College Preparedness:
Explore/Plan/Colorado ACT,
Graduation Rate
Summary: PPC’s & Root
Causes
Data Narrative for the School:
Data Inquiry (sample p. 3)
SCHOOL PERFORMANCE FRAMEWORK (SPF)
PLAN ASSIGNMENT
AND STATE EXPECTATIONS ON SPF INDICATORS
School Performance Frameworks(SPF) from CDE
Overall percent of SPF points earned was 75%, resulting in the following
plan assignment from CDE (Check one):
__X__ Performance Plan
_____ Improvement Plan
_____ Priority Improvement Plan
_____ Turnaround Plan
ABC Elementary met all SPF Indicators.
Trends
• It’s best to include at least three years of data, TCAP,
TCAP Growth, ACT, Plan, Explore, Early Literacy,…
• Include positive and negative performance trends
• Identify where the school did not at least meet state
expectations on the School Performance Framework
(SPF)
Trends Could be:
Stable
Increasing
Decreasing
Increasing then decreasing
Decreasing then increasing
Stable then increasing
Stable then decreasing
Increasing then stable
Decreasing then stable
Examples of Trend Statements
• The percent of 4th grade students who scored
proficient or advanced on math TCAP/CSAP declined
from 70% to 55% to 48% between 2010 and 2012.
• The median growth percentile of English Language
learners in writing increased from 28 to 35 to 45
between 2010 and 2012.
• Our dropout rate has been stable (15, 14, 16) but
much higher than the state average between 2010 and
2012.
Data Narrative for the School:
Data Inquiry and Analysis
(sample p. 3-7)
Trend Statements and Data
EXCELLENCE: CSAP Performance
Median growth percentiles (MGPs) have increased from 2008 to 2011 in all areas, and dropped
somewhat from 2009-10 to 2010-11, as shown in the table below.
In Reading and Writing, MGPs increased from 41 to 48 and 35 to 54 between 2007-08 and
2010-11 school years. Reading decreased notably from 61 to 48 in the past two school years.
In Math, MGPs increased from 35 to 54 between 2007-08 and 2010-11 school years and
dropped three percentile ranks from 56 to 53 in the past two years.
Median Growth Percentiles on CSAP/TCAP Historical Grades 3-4 and 4-5 Collapsed
School year
2007-2008
2008-2009
2009-2010
2010-1011
MGP Math
43
58
56
53
MGP Reading
41
39
61
48
MGP Writing
35
44
58
54
Reflect & Discuss
• Use the Quality Criteria Checklist
• Read and comment on the Data
Inquiry portion of the sample UIP (school
performance on SPF indicators and Excellence, Equity, and
Post-Secondary Readiness Data Trends)
• Discuss with your table —
– Does the narrative and data present an easy to
understand picture of performance trends in this
building?
– What suggestions might you have, reading this as a
community member?
CDE’s UIP Sections
(We will go over portions of red sections tonight)
Section I Section II Section III
Section IV
State
Grant Info
+
Federal
Performance
Data
School Target Setting Form
 Targets, measures, metrics
 Interim Measures
 Major Improvement Strategies
Contact
Improvement
Plan Info
Progress on Prior Year’s
Targets Worksheet
Data Narrative
 Introduction
 External Accountability
Indexes (SPF, AYP if Title 1)
 Excellence: CSAP Performance



Action Planning Forms
 Major Improvement Strategies
 Associated root causes
 Action Steps
 Timelines
& Growth
 Key People
Equity: CSAP Performance
 Resources
and/or Growth by Race/Ethnicity  Implementation Benchmarks
and other student subgroups
 Status of Action Steps
College Preparedness:
Explore/Plan/Colorado ACT,
Graduation Rate
Summary: PPC’s & Root
Causes
Prioritize Performance Challenges
• The most strategic and important
Performance Challenges that will form the
basis for your school goal targets
• School communities must do a Root Cause
Analysis for each selected Priority
Performance Challenge
Performance Challenges
Performance challenges are. . .
• Specific statements about performance
• Strategic focus for the improvement efforts
• About the students’ needs
Performance challenges are NOT
•
•
•
•
What caused the performance challenge
Action steps that need to be taken
Concerns about budget, staffing, curriculum, or instruction
About what the adults need to do
What is a Root Cause?
• Statements describing the deepest underlying cause or causes
of performance challenges.
• Causes that, if dissolved, would result in elimination or
substantial reduction of the performance challenge(s).
Root Causes ARE. . .
About adult actions or behaviors,
or orientations that caused the
performance challenge (e.g.,
staffing, master schedule,
curriculum, instruction)
Strategic focus/foci for
improvement efforts
Root Causes are NOT
About student actions, behaviors,
or orientations
Specific statements about student
performance
Goals
Action steps that need to be taken
Summary of Priority Performance
Challenges & Root Causes (sample p. 8-9)
Verification of Root Cause:
Data driven dialogue and analysis of data with teaching staff in staff meetings. In staff meetings
and grade level team meetings, we identified several areas of priority need based on an
exploration of our achievement data. We then used Thinking Map activities to arrive at related
root causes.
Reflect & Discuss
• Use the Quality Criteria Checklist
• Read and comment on the
Priority Performance Challenges and
Root Cause portion of the sample
UIP
• Discuss with your table —
– Do the PPCs seem reasonable given the school
data?
– What suggestions might you have, reading this
as a community member?
Data Analysis Process
Gather & Organize Data
Monitor &
Evaluate
Step 4:
Take Action and Follow Up
Target Setting &
Action Plans
Step 1:
Activate and Engage
To inspire
every student
• to think
• to learn
• to achieve
• to care
Step 3:
Explain and Target
Priority Performance Challenge and
Root Cause Identification
Significant
Trends, Data
Summary
Step 2:
Explore and Observe
Narrative of
Data Analysis
Reflect & Discuss
How Do We Support This Process?
• What can you do in your building to support
your principal and staff in data inquiry and
school improvement efforts?
• What could you do better or different?
• Debrief.
Take Away
• Share this information.
• Share the best practices we’ve discussed.
• Make sure that you communicate your
improvement efforts with your public.